Rail joint



March 27, 1934. Q D YOUNG 1,952,573

RAIL JOINT Filed Feb. 2, 1931 2214129 INVENTOR.I #ba-; Charles D- Yzzzzcq, waw/ z BY W A TORNEYS' .40 having reference to the Patented Mar. 27, 1934 PATENT QFFCE RAIL J OINT Charles D. Young, Haverford, Pa. Application February 2, 1931, Serial No. 512,868 6 Claims. (Cl. 238-244) This invention relates to rail joints, and more particularly to a rail joint construction in which there are combined with one or more joint bars .shims or liners disposed in such manner above the head and below-the'foot portion of the joint bar or bars as to provide freedom for the rail at certain regions when the rail is subjected to a 4moving load and intimate bearing contact With the rail at other regions of the joint. More specifically, the joint construction of this invention compensates for the tendency of rail ends to dip or bend downward at the joints forming what is commonly called low-joints." Such deection of rail ends at the joints produces depressions below the normal plane of the runningsurfaces of the rails and causes pounding of the moving loads .at the depressed areas. As the result of excessive pounding, a rail joint construction will wear rapidly and Will cease to operate efficiently.

Heretofore numerous attenipts have been made to compensate for wear at rail joints, and I am fully aware that it has been proposed to provide various forms of shims between joint bars and rails and to provide special forms of joint bars with bearing surfaces deflected from true parallelisin with the longitudinal axes of the rails. My invention, however, is adapted to be applied to standard forms of joint bars in which there is no defiection in the head, web or foot portions; and the invention is .particularly characterized `by an arrangement of shims at a rail joint which in effect produces an arched joint bar trussing the rail ends up at the joint by providing' head contact at the rail ends and base contact at the bar ends.

Other objects and advantages characterizingthisinvention will become more fully apparent from the detailed description of an embodiment 01' example thereof which follows hereinafter,

accompanying drawing,

wherein:

Fig. I is a side elevation of a rail joint embody'ing a continuous joint bar.

Fig. II is a cross section of the same, taken as indicated by the lines II II of Fig. I.

Fig. III is a cross section of the same, taken as indicated by the lines III-III of Fig. I.

Fig. IV is a perspective view of the head shim shown in Figs. I and II. 50.4 Fig. V is a perspective shown in Figs. I and III. j

Fig. VI is a view similar to Fig. II, but showing the application of the head shim to a different joint bar of the ang'le type; and,

Fig. VII is a view similar to Fig. III, showing view of the base shims .ibly

the application of base shims to a joint bar of the angle type.

In the drawing, adjoining' rails are designated at l, Vthe rails being of standard form and comprising head portions 2, web portions 3 and fianged bases 4. The joint bars 5 selected for illustration in Flgs. I, II and III are of uniform height and section throughout, and of less shins' height than the fishing height of the rails, and are of the continuous type, each having a head portion 6, a web portion 7, and a base portion 8 which extends around the fianges 4 of adjoining rails enveloping their top slopes 9 and bottom surfaces 10. There are no deections in the joint bar 5, the inner surfaces of which are parallel to the corresponding rail surfaces. Spaced longitudinally throughout each joint bar there are holes 11 aligned with oorresponding' holes 12 in the webs 3 of the rails l, these holes being adapted to accommodate bolts 13 for flexsecuring the bars 5 to the rails l. Between the joint bar and the bolt heads 13, or nuts 14 where the bolts are alternately reversed, plates 15 are preferably interposed, there being one such plate on each side of the joint. As thus far described, the rail joint construction involves a common form of rolled bar. It is to be understood, however, that the general form of joint bars to which my invention may be applied admits of considerabie respect to the cross-sectional shape of head and foot-portions, the contour of the bearing surfaces and the distance at which the web of the joint bar is spaced from the rail.

Above the medial portions of the joint bars 5, there are shown metal head shims or -liners 16, of less length than the joint bar 5 whereof one is illustrated in perspective in Fig. IV. Each such shim ie of angular section and is adapted to fit snugly beneath the head portions 2 of the rails l, one leg l'7 contacting with the undersides of +he head portions, and the other leg 18 contacting With the surfaces of the Web portions 3 of the rails 1. The leg 18 of each head shim 16 is provided With a depending projection 19 which is accommodated between two bolts 13 at the center of the rail joint. This depending projection 19 serves to maintain the shim 16 in a predetermined longitudinal position.

At the ends of the joint bars, additional metal shims 20 and 21 of the form illustrated in perspective in Fig. V are interposed between the base fianges of the adjoining rails and the joint bars 5. These shims are also of angular cross section, each comprising a Vertical leg 22 adapted to Variation, for example, with,

bear against the rail web 3, a leg 23 adapted to bear against the top slope 9 of the fianged base 4, and a horizontal leg 24 adapted to bear against the bottom 10 of the fianged base d of a rail 1. The vertical leg 22 is in each instance provided with an upstanding projection 25 which is accommodated between a pair of bolts 13 at the end of the rail joint. The upstanding projections 22 serve to maintain the shims 20, 21 in their proper longitudinal positions.

It will be noted that each head shim 16 provides a bearing surface intirnately engaging the rail ends beneath their heads and at the medial portion of each joint bar, and affords head clearance between the corresponding bar and those regions of the rails which are opposite the bar ends. On the other hand the base shims 2b, 21 provide bearing surfaces intimately engaging the rail bases at the bar ends with clearance between the bar and the rail bases at the region beneath the head shim 16. Accordingly, the shims 16, 20 and 21 provide in effect a three-point contact between bar and rails, one point or of contact being between the heads of adjoining rail ends and the middle of the bar, and the other points or areas of contact being between the bar ends and the rail bases.

When the nuts 14 are tightened with the shims in place, the rail ends are trussed up to better resist downward depression incident to the oassage of heavy loads, there being, however, clearance between the rail bases at the rail ends and the joint bar to provide freedom for the rail at this region without restraining action between the rail ends and the joint bar. The shims are preferably so disposed that the ends of the base shims 29, 21 are in Vertical line with the ends of the head shim 16.

In Figs. VI and VII, joint bars 5a of the angle bar type are shown, each such bar comprising a head portion 6a, a web portion 7a, and a base portion 8a, the inner bearing surface of which does not extend around the flanged base 4 of the rails 1 but conforms to their top slopes. Shims 16a, 20a and 21a are disposed in each instance between the bar 5a and the rails 1 in the same manner as described above, that the base shims 20a and 21a engage only the top slopes of the fianged bases 4 of the rails l. Accorf. gry, the head shims 16a are of the same identical form as the shims 16, with the continuous type of joint bar, whereas the base shims 20a and 21a each comprise only two legs, a Vertical leg 22a bearing against the rail web and a leg 23a bearing against the top slope of the flanged bases 4 of the rails 1 at the bar ends. It will be seen that this construction also provides in efiect an arched bar which when assembled will truss up the rail ends at the center of the joint.

The provision of shims as described permits the use of a joint bar of uniform section throughout, and with inner surfaces parallel to corresponding surfaces of the adjacent rails and thus obviates the necessity of making any change in the standard forms of joint bars. All wear takes place upon the shims rather than the bars of a joint, so that by replacing the shims from time to time, the efficiency of the rail joint may be maintained over a long period of years without the necessity of replacing the joint bars.

It will be noted that the shims 16, 20 and 21 may be applied to an ordinary joint bar without changing the configuration of the bar at the fishing angles. For example, the bars used may be reformed to a less dimension between the fishrosasre ing surfaces or longer bolts may be used with a bar of standard dimensions set away somewhat from the longitudinal axis of the rail.

Where, due to wear at to batter at a joint, the top surface of a rail head has become` depressed, and it is desired to truss the rail head up into line, this may be accomplished by the introduction of shims according to the practice of this invention. By tightening the bolts at the joint, the rail ends may be bent upward in such manner as to align the top surface of a rail head With the level of the rest of the rail, or the rail ends may be trussed up even higher to postpone the time when they will be again battered down in service.

The shims or wearing pieces are preferably made of softer material than that used for the joint bars and rails; and as the shims take all the batter or wear and relieve the joint bars, which are of harder material, from wear, the periodic substitution of new shims which are comparatively inexpensive obviates the necessity of reforming the joint bars or cutting oif the rails to re-establish proper dimensions at battered rail ends or at the Centers of joint bars.

While I have described my invention in some detail with reference to one example or embodiment and a modification thereof, it will be apparent that various changes may be made as to the form of shims and bars which may be used without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the annexed claims. For example, it will be apparent that in place of three separate shims spaced in the manner described, a single shim might be employed involving three elements similar to the head and base shims which have been described. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is obviously applicable to many forms of joint bars other than that here selected for purposes of illustration. v

lhaving thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination a rail joint bar having a uniform cross section throughout its length, and shims disposed between the bar and a pair of adjoining rails to provide a three-point contact therebetween, one point of contact being between the heads of adjoining rail ends and the middle of the bar, and the other points of contact being between the bar ends and the rail bases and the bar being otherwise free of engagement with the rails.

2. In combination, a rail joint bar of uniforn cross section throughout its length having a head portion conforming to the underside of the rail heads and a base portion conforming to the tops of the fianges of adjoining rails, a shim disposed between the bar and rails to provide head contact at the rail ends but not elsewhere, and additional shims disposed between the bar and rails to provide base contact at the bar ends but not elsewhere.

3. In combination a rail jointbar of uniform cross section throughout its length having a head portion conforming to the underside of the rail heads and a base portion eonforming to the tops of the flanges of adjoining rails, a shim disposed between the bar and rails to provide head contact at the rail ends but not elsewhere, and additional shimsdisposed between the bar and rails to provide base contact at the bar ends but not elsewhere, the inner ends of said vbase shims being in Vertical line with the ends of said head shim.

fi. In a rail joint, the rails, a joint bar of uniform cross section throughout its length and of the ends of rails or due less fishing height than the fishing height of the rails, shimsjinterposed between the ends of the joint bar anlgthe base flanges of the rails, and a shim of less/length than the joint bar interposed between the fnedial portion of the head of the bar and the undersides of the rail heads at the ends thereof, the bar being otherwise free of engagement with the rails.

5. In a raii'f-joint, the raiis, a joint bar of uniform cross section throughout its length having head clearanoe at its ends from the undersides of the railjhads and being in load supporting relation medially with the ends of the rail heads and otherwise free of engagement with the rail heads, and shims interposed'between the ends of the joint bar and the rail flanges, the bar being' Otherwise free of engagement with the railposed between the medialportion of said bar and the rail heads.`

CHARLES D. YoUN. 

